Mar. 2: Utilities Tackle Challenge of EV Charging Infrastructure

Top consumer smart grid news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.

Utility Dive | New York PSC Takes Steps to Expand Energy Storage
The New York PSC last week approved two measures aimed at growing energy storage resources in the state, and helping to meet Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 1,500 MW energy storage target by 2025. Regulators approved a plan for ConEd to significantly expand the use of battery storage systems in its service territory by simplifying the process for private owners.

Greentech Media | Consumers Lack EV Awareness, Even in the Nation’s Largest Market
California is the largest electric-vehicle market in the U.S., accounting for approximately half of the nearly 800,000 EVs on the road nationwide. But, according to surveys conducted by researchers at the University of California, Davis, the rapid growth in the number of EVs and charging stations in the state hasn’t improved consumers’ awareness of plug-in cars.

SECC Member NewsGreentech Media | Utilities Tackle the Challenge of EV Charging Infrastructure
At the end of June, Washington State had 24,624 plug-in electric vehicles registered. Most were in outlying areas of Seattle, with King County accounting for over half those vehicles. The distribution remains more sparse in the eastern part of the state. Some of those counties overlap with the service territory of Avista Corporation, a utility with natural gas and electric operations in Washington, Idaho and a few pockets of Oregon.

Daily Energy Insider | Alabama Power, Georgia Power Announce Smart Neighborhood Initiatives
Southern Company announced Smart Neighborhood initiatives in Atlanta and suburban Birmingham, Alabama. The Smart Neighborhoods will include homes equipped with distributed energy resources and smart home appliances and technologies. They will provide Southern Company and the subsidiaries with information that could further enable the smart grid and lead to new programs, products and services for customers.

Electric Light & Power | Illinois Regulators Approve ComEd’s Bronzeville Microgrid
The Illinois Commerce Commission gave its approval to ComEd’s nearly $30 million Bronzeville microgrid to protect police, power and other key municipal operations in the Chicago area. ComEd officials expressed excitement over the project approval. They said it will connect to a neighboring microgrid to create the first utility-scale microgrid cluster in the nation.